Mudblood
by ElphabaLives4Ever
Summary: Severus Snape lived a solitary life until Lily Evans became a part of it. This Slytherin would-be Death Eater slowly comes to accept that he's fallen in love with a Mudblood...but there are other complications. Snape/Lily
1. Identity

He thought he'd be used to it by now. He _should_ have been used to it by now...the fighting. His parents got into some sort of argument almost every night for as long as he could remember. It was old news...ordinary. This time, though, it was different. He'd thought he'd heard it all. They fought over _everything_, from whether to make the move that his mother so desperately wanted (it never did happen...his father rarely lost an argument) to where someone's shoes had ended up at the end of the day. It wasn't until now that he realized that _he_ had never before been the subject of one of his parents' arguments.

"We _agreed _on this Eileen! We _both_ agreed that he wouldn't turn out this way!"

"WE _AGREED?"_ his mother was already at the peak of her fury, screaming at the top of her lungs, "YOU CAN'T _AGREE_ ON THINGS LIKE THIS!"

He listened closer and heard his mother take a deep, slow breath, calming herself down. Feeling a bit safer, the boy poked his head out from under his filthy, ragged quilt so that he'd still be able to catch every word.

"Tobias, listen to me. I know you didn't want it to happen, but-"

"OH, AND I SUPPOSE YOU DID, THEN?" Now, it was his father's turn to become hostile; he quickly pulled his quilt back over his head, "I KNEW IT! I GODDAMN _KNEW_ IT! YOU WANTED YOUR SON-"

"Our son," Eileen whispered so that the sound was barely audible.

"What did you say?" Tobias' voice had transformed into a menacing murmur.

"He's just as much your son as he is mine."

There was a long and painful silence that followed. The boy hidden beneath his quilt did not need to see that scene in the next room to know what was going on. His mother had shut her eyes tight, unwilling to watch her husband as he paced back and forth across the room...slowly, _very_ slowly, both his teeth and his fists tightly clenched. The boy also knew exactly what Tobias was thinking...he was deciding whether his wife had gone too far, whether she deserved it this time. Well, as it turned out, apparently, she did...

Several hours later, his bedroom door creaked open, and his mother stepped into the room.

"Severus?"

Severus...? That was unusual. Neither of his parents ever addressed him by his name. He was used to answering to the call of _You! _or _Boy!_ Not to give the wrong impression! Severus Snape did _not_ hate his parents. What child could? It was...complicated. He simply didn't know how to feel when he looked at his mother, as he had so many times in the past, after his father had briefly lost his mind. This time she looked particularly gruesome, blood pouring from both corners of her mouth, her face virtually covered in bruises...and she was slightly doubled over in pain, suggesting that she had some sort of wound in her stomach. If Severus hated her, the sight of her in this state would have caused him pleasure. It didn't.

"I know you're awake, boy."

So much for _Severus. _Heaving a heavy sigh, and relenting, he sat up and looked anxiously at his mother. Eileen took a deep breath herself before continuing.

"Do you know why I'm in here?"

This was it; he was really in for it now. Earlier that day, when Tobias Snape had been in an unusually good mood, he'd decided to take his wife and son out for a family picnic. When he'd come in to Severus' room to tell him, Severus had been more excited than he could ever remember being in his life. In all his ten years, neither of his parents had ever made an effort to create time for family. He'd thought that, just maybe, things were about to change. As he made his way downstairs to the kitchen with the little picnic basket his mother had told him to pack, he felt as if he could fly the rest of the way...and that is precisely what he did, and he hadn't stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He'd floated right into the kitchen and remained hovering as he gathered food from the refrigerator. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that his father entered the room, whistling some Irish folk tune that had been on the radio that morning. The whistling came to an abrupt halt as Tobias' eyes fell on his son, hovering three feet in the air, happily loading a picnic basket with eight jars of blueberry jam.

"_You!"_

"_Hello, Father! I've packed all the blueberry jam for you! It's your favorite, right?"_

_Tobias continued to gape. He opened and closed his mouth, unable to speak. Severus' heart sank in dread as he saw his father's face slowly turn red with unspoken rage. Hastily, he began putting the jam jars back into the refrigerator._

"_You don't like blueberry jam anymore, do you, Father? That's alright! I could pack strawberry...or maybe grape?"_

"_You...y-you. Boy, you're not standing on the ground!" Tobias choked out._

"_What are you talking about, Father, of course I'm-"_

_Severus stopped short as he looked down on his feet, which were, in fact, suspended in the air above the floor._

"_Get down from there. Now," his father ordered in frighteningly soft voice._

_But as Severus' heart sank, so did his body. It seemed that the happy feeling he'd had was what caused the floating, and now it was gone. He felt tears in the brims of his eyes as his feet hit the ground, and he immediately put his head down. Father had no toleration for tears._

"_Get to bed, boy," his father growled._

_It was hardly noon, but by now, Severus knew better than to contradict his father._

Now, it was well past midnight, and his mother stood before him, having just asked him why she'd come into his room.

"Mother, I'm sorry! I couldn't help it; it just...happened!"

"I know. This time, it's not your fault. Look."

Eileen took what looked like a long, thin, wooden rod from beneath her deep red bathrobe and gave it a gentle flick with her wrist, while at the same time murmuring something under her breath. Severus was confused until he turned around to see what his mother had been pointing the rod at. He gasped as he saw his dresser float higher and higher toward the ceiling. Then, with another flick of her wrist, Eileen brought it gently down again.

"Wow," Severus breathed, unable to contain his amazement, "How'd you do that?"

"Magic," she said simply, "I am a witch."

"Does that mean I'm a witch, too?"

"No, you're a wizard. It's more or less the same thing. Here," Eileen placed a large stack of books in her son's lap, "Read these. It's everything you'll need to know before we send you off to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?"

"Just read the books, boy."

As his mother left the room without another word, Severus eagerly looked down at the pile of books in his lap. The first was entitled _Hogwarts: The Wizarding Child's Haven._ As he flipped through the pages of the enormous book, his eyes grew wide with wonder and excitement. He read of classes in Charms and Potions and other exciting components of a magical curriculum. He read of enchanted staircases and ghosts wandering the halls, of secret passageways and paintings that came to life, all concealed in a castle on the water only visible to the wizarding community...Hogwarts. The last page of the book contained nothing but a picture of the school building itself. It was utterly magnificent...breathtaking. Severus carefully tore the page out of the book and tacked it to his bedroom wall. Then, laying back down on his bed, he turned to face it.

The book had told him that children were admitted to Hogwarts when they were eleven years old. Severus had recently turned ten. _One more year._ He had only one more year to wait until he could leave his lonely existence behind and start a new life at Hogwarts. He closed his eyes and tried to picture it, walking down the hall with his best friend on the way to his favorite class.

His best friend...he'd never had any friends before. He'd walked around the neighborhood plenty of times before and saw a number of children his age. He'd wanted so badly to speak to them, to make _one_ friend, but he never worked up the courage. Besides, what would he say? It was useless.

At Hogwarts, though, things would be different. He'd have magic on his side, and even if he couldn't use it, it would give him the strength he needed. Plus, it was something they would all have in common. That's what he liked best about the idea of Hogwarts. Everyone seemed to be the same. They wore the same clothes, had the same ability, took the same classes...he wouldn't be different at Hogwarts. He would finally fit in. He would _belong_.

With a longing smile playing on his lips, Severus drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: So what do you think? I know I only dealt with Severus in this chapter, but fear not! Lily will make her appearance in the next one! I'd like to know your opinions so far, so by all means, leave a review! The next chapter should be up tonight, provided I have the time. I'm leaving in an hour because I'm in a play, but I should be back at around ten to finish writing. If things don't go according to plan, though, I will definitely get it up by tomorrow!**


	2. The Girl

**A/N: So, it's over a week past the day I promised you this chapter. I'm sorry! Some things came up that were beyond my control, and I simply didn't have the time to write anything decent. I think it's high time I accepted that daily postings have become virtually impossible for me. Nonetheless, I will try to get a chapter up here at least twice a week. Alright? Good. Read on!**

Severus silently slipped out of bed as a soft white light began to glow dully outside the tiny window beside his bed. It was dawn, which meant that Eileen and Tobias Snape would still be fast asleep. Severus loved these early morning hours. They were often the only time during the day that the house was quiet; his parents were not arguing. Careful not to make even the slightest sound, he wandered over to his dresser and opened the top drawer, which contained the only set of day-clothes in his possession: an old blouse his mother had given him once it no longer fit her, a large, baggy overcoat that had been tossed aside by his father, and a pair of jeans he'd been given by his late grandmother two years ago that had grown too small for him so that they were tight around the middle and showed a bit of his ankles. Having gotten dressed, he then slowly opened the door to his closet, its only contents being a pair of old, worn, filthy black boots. He shoved his feet into them and opened his bedroom door, wincing slightly as he heard the low creaking sound it made. He paused for a moment, listening for any sign that he might have woken his parents, but to his immense relief, he heard nothing but the sound of his father's deep and steady snoring from the room down the hall. He tiptoed out of his room and down the staircase; this part was easy. He'd done this a countless number of times and never disturbed his parents; he knew which parts of the staircase creaked from years of practice, and never failed to avoid them.

Finally making it to the bottom of the staircase, Severus entered the kitchen and grabbed a paper bag from the top of the refrigerator and stuffed it with three apples he found on the counter-top. He gently eased the front door open, paper bag in hand, and slipped outside. At last, he was free. Severus hated to be at home during the day to listen to _more_ of his parents' arguments, and he avoided doing so whenever he could. Besides, as long as he didn't get caught on the way out, his parents never seemed to notice that he'd left for the day, or if they did they showed no sign of caring.

Severus spent his days wandering the neighborhood on his own. He made no attempt at conversation, as he never knew what to say to someone his own age to make them like him, and the other children tended to avoid him like the plague. It was a lonely existence, but he preferred the time he spent alone to the time he spent with his parents, so the loneliness was easy enough to accept. His wanderings led him to the park a few blocks away from Spinner's End. It was completely deserted and seemed like the perfect place to sit for a while. He settled into one of the two swings on a small set toward the far left side of the park, and pulled one of the apples out of his paper bag.

At that moment, he heard voices around the corner, and they sounded far too close for comfort. Not wanting to be seen, Severus plunged into a nearby cluster of bushes and peered out through the branches to get a look at the people approaching. The first one he saw was a girl who looked about his age with pale skin, startlingly green, and thick, deep-red hair hanging down to her shoulders. She was pulling a tall, slender, blond-haired woman by the hand toward the very swing that Severus had just vacated. Lagging behind was a slightly older girl who was thin and sickly-looking with blond hair, blue eyes, and an abnormally long neck.

"Mummy, Mummy, look! Look what I can do!"

The woman smiled at her tiny, overenthusiastic daughter as she allowed herself to be dragged across the park to the swing-set. The little redheaded girl flung herself onto the swing and began to pump her legs vigorously. From behind the bushes, Severus unsuccessfully tried to ward off a smile.

"That's wonderful, honey!" the girl's mother said, "Why don't you come down now? You're getting a little high, dear."

"No, Mummy, I haven't shown you yet! Just let me go a little bit higher."

Severus watched as the girl's swing brought her higher and higher into the air, and he began to become nervous. If she fell from the height she had reached, she was sure to hurt herself. Her mother seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"That's too high, dear!" she called, a hint of panic in her voice, "Come down, now!"

The girl began to giggle. "Alright, I'll be right down."

Instead of simply stopping her legs and waiting for the swing to lower on its own, the girl lifted herself right out of her swing. Severus gasped from where he was hiding, but the sound was drowned out by the mother's scream.

"No, Lily, DON'T!" she cried to late.

Her daughter was already flying through the air, and Severus flinched, anticipating her painful impact with the ground, but there was none. The girl, whose name was Lily according to her mother, remained suspended in the air for far too long before gently drifting downward and letting her feet lightly hit the ground, rather more like she was performing an impressive ballet routine than free-falling from the highest possible peak of her swing to the ground below her. Severus was shocked, but not quite as shocked as Lily's mother and the older girl standing behind her, who was presumably Lily's older sister.

"Lily, how did you _do_ that?" the other girl cried, sounding both awed and the slightest bit envious.

"I don't know," Lily giggled.

"What do you mean you don't know?" her sister demanded, her tone becoming more irritated than admiring now.

"It doesn't matter," the girls' mother stated abruptly, snapping out of her state of shock and into one of parental instinct, "I never want you to do that again, Lily, understand? I don't want you to get hurt."

"But Mummy, I'm not-"

"I don't want to hear another word about it," the still-flustered woman replied in a tone that warned her daughter to keep her mouth shut, "Let's go home, now; it's nearly dinner time."

_Dinner time...?_ Severus thought to himself in confusion, _but it's only...oh, no_. Severus suddenly realized that he hadn't the slightest idea what time it was. If what the woman had said was true, it was getting late, and he didn't have very much time at all to get home. In one swift motion he leaped up from the tangle of bushes and shot off down the road toward Spinner's End, leaving his long-forgotten paper bag, and his not-soon-to-be-forgotten discovery of the remarkable little girl and her family, far behind him.

He was late. Severus had never gotten home late for dinner before, so he wasn't entirely sure what to expect. He smiled ruefully as he realized what his punishment was. The table in the kitchen was completely bare, and it appeared that he wouldn't be getting any dinner tonight. This was far better than he expected, so careful not to push his luck, he ran up the stairs and directly into his room.

Lying in bed, his thoughts were brought back to the little redheaded girl at the park named Lily. What had happened to her had been a lot like what had happened to him the previous day. It was obvious that the little girl was a witch, and that surely meant that she'd be bound for Hogwarts with him in a year's time. Perhaps if he could work up the courage to make contact with her in the near future, he could go off to school already having a friend. He resolved in his mind to go back to the park the next day. If the girl was there, he would talk to her.

Severus had finally grown tired of his lonely life. Tomorrow, it was sure to change.

**A/N: Again, I'm terribly sorry for the wait. Anyway, things should be moving a lot faster from this point onward, and I'll be having a lot of fun with this story! Also, I recently got a review for my story "Ma Belle," asking whether I plan on continuing it. I do, but as to when that will happen, I'm afraid I don't have an exact answer. I want to make this story my first priority, but I will keep "Ma Belle" in mind and update as soon as the time presents itself. As always, reviews are always appreciated! **

**Oh! And I'm currently in the market for a beta reader! I have a few requirements for anyone who is interested in beta reading for this story:**

**1. You should know what you're doing, and do your job reasonably well.**

**2. You should be available and online often, at least once a day being ideal.**

**3. Do not tamper with my word choice or style of writing. That's something that you'll just have to accept. Your job is mainly to correct any technical (grammatical, spelling, etc.) that I might have missed.**

**4. I will always be willing to discuss plot with you if you are so inclined, but be aware that I am unlikely to change anything major upon suggestion. I have most things planned out ahead of time in my stories, and there are some things that simply cannot be compromised.**

**That's about it! If you're interested, send me a private message telling me a little bit about yourself, when you will be available as a beta reader, and most importantly WHY you are interested. If a capable beta reader presents themselves in less than a week, I will write the next chapter immediately after informing my new beta reader that they have been chosen. If not, I will write my chapter anyway, and post another advertisement in the next chapter. I look forward to working with you. Thanks!**


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